Radio Havana Cuba | Brazilian government to save education

Written by Maria Josefina Arce

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has insisted that education funds should not be viewed as an expense, but rather an investment in the country’s future. On this path, his government took upon itself the task of allocating more resources to this vital field for the country’s development and implementing programs that raise the quality of education and benefit the most humble sectors.


It is a debt to the most vulnerable groups, who have seen their options further reduced under the mandate of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro, but it is also a goal to raise the standards of students, which have recorded a significant decline.


In the first months of his third term, Lula da Silva introduced a new literacy policy in the South American giant, which aims to ensure that all children in the second year of primary education learn to read and write.


According to Alfabetiza Brasil research, in 2021, only four out of 10 children at this level of education were literate.


The current government has also launched the Full-Time in Schools programme, which proposes to expand the full-time offer in basic education centers by one million enrollees.


Experts point out that this initiative reduces the school dropout rate, increases job opportunities and student and teacher engagement with school. There are also studies that reveal a decrease in homicides among young people.


Other measures include a 54% increase in teacher training scholarships, including those earmarked for starting a teaching programme.


Lula da Silva’s arrival to the Planalto Palace also made a difference in education, after his predecessor abandoned this field. Bolsonaro cut the education budget, prompting young people and teachers to take to the streets to protest.


In October 2022, a few months after the end of his administration, he blocked nearly $119 million earmarked for research at public universities.

Dozens of projects essential for Brazil’s scientific and technological progress have been cancelled.


The government led by Lula da Silva is working to save education, an area that the president said has been under constant attack in recent years and which, on the contrary, should be a priority for the authorities to achieve a more just and progressive society. .